K-5 May Curriculum Highlights
Each month, we will be providing curriculum highlights from each grade level. Please know that these are snapshots and do not reflect all the curriculum and learning in the classroom.
Kindergarten: Now that Kindergartners have learned so much about reading, they are ready to become avid readers - people who love reading so much they can barely stop! Children will work more collaboratively than ever and even explore playful ways to read. While focusing on phonics and decoding in their word work, children will continue to explore digraphs and blends as they build and read longer stronger words. They will also listen in order to add, delete, and substitute phonemes/sounds in words. Kindergarten writers will explore persuasive writing and how they can use their words to make a change. They can see a problem, think about it, choose their audience and write a lot! In math, kindergartners compose and decompose numbers to 20. We will then learn about the decade numbers and count the decade numbers in order. In Science the students are excited to start our last unit – Sunlight and Weather. This unit provides the foundation for understanding the mechanism underlying all weather—how the sun warms Earth’s surface. In their role as weather scientists, students are driven to understand this phenomenon as they solve the problem of why students at one fictional school are too cold during morning recess while students at another school are too hot during afternoon recess, which serves as the anchor phenomenon of this unit. Stay tuned to find out what they discover!
Grade 1: May brings lots of new learning for first graders! As books become longer, students will develop their comprehension skills by retelling the most important details in order. They will work on paying attention to the shifts in setting and the different events characters experience. Readers will also be studying characters and relationships, learning all they can about what they do and say. They then will be able to infer how the characters are feeling and practice reading in a way that reflects those feelings, bringing their stories to life. During word work students will be spelling words with two syllables. They will segment syllables between two consonants, then name and spell one syllable at a time. In Writing Workshop, first graders will be writing realistic fiction stories. This unit is designed to teach students how to story tell and plan stories. They will develop their own characters that will go on different adventures throughout their stories. In math, students will be subtracting multiples of 10 from two-digit numbers. Mathematicians will use various strategies to explain their thinking for how they solved a problem. The second half of the month will focus on measurement. Students will develop an understanding of length by using different measuring tools and comparing and ordering objects to determine which is shortest and which is longest. In science, children are developing an explanation of why we experience daytime and nighttime.
Grade 2: May is an exciting month in second grade. In science students are wrapping up their work with erosion and are moving into Plant and Animal Relationships. They will use what they learn about this relationship to investigate seed dispersal in the Bengal Tiger Reserve. Students will visit the school garden to enhance their study and will take a field trip to Westmoreland Nature Preserve and Sanctuary. In math students are adding and subtracting numbers within 1,000 and will end the month in a unit on measurement. In reading students will explore the world of fiction, gaining a better understanding of story structure. Second graders will use this knowledge to write their own gripping fictional stories. Phonics work continues to focus on vowel teams. Identifying syllable types and trick words remain important pieces of the Fundations program.
Grade 3: In May, third graders will use all that they learned during our earlier nonfiction writing unit and their animal research notes to begin writing an informational book about their animal. In Fundations, the final stable syllable will remain a focus as students identify words with consonant –le. Our next math unit focuses on recognizing perimeter as an attribute of polygons, finding perimeter using addition and multiplication, and finding an unknown side length. Finally, in social studies, students will learn about global trade and describe ways in which global trade has changed life in a world community. Additionally, third graders will be visited by the Lewisboro town supervisor who will discuss local government and citizenship.
Grade 4: In May, fourth graders will embark on a historical fiction journey. They will study the impact of specific story elements such as setting, problem and solution, and key events within historical fiction texts. To provide student background, students will dive into the Industrial Revolution, women’s suffrage, and immigration during social studies. They will analyze how authors use story elements to integrate information while developing a character and his relationships during a specific era. In math, students will continue their learning about geometry and measurement. They will study the relationship between lines, angles, and shapes and convert customary and metric units of measurement. Finally, in science, students will become geologists and begin studying how rocks and fossils tell us how the Earth has changed over time.
Grade 5: To start May, readers will be immersed in the inventive and amazing world of fantasy fiction. Through book groups, students will look at literary devices such as hero’s quest. They will also discuss the importance of setting in this genre. This work will center on determining not only where the story takes place but also who has the power and the impact this power has on the main character. Also in May, students will hone their non-fiction, research reading and writing skills through the lens of Civil Rights. As a cumulative project, students will choose a civil rights movement of interest to them. Some of the topics the students can choose from are Title IX, Americans with Disabilities Act, Immigration, LGBTQ+, Indigenous People, Black Lives Matter, and Mexican American Civil Rights. In addition to the amazing ELA work students will be doing, they will also be studying geometry and measurement conversions in math. They will learn to convert metric and customary units of measurement. In addition, they will learn the attributes of various types of triangles and quadrilaterals.
Belonging at IMES
In our April Sharing Assemblies for both K-2 and 3-5, we highlighted Neurodiversity Awareness Month. We defined its meaning of the word and recognized famous and current humans who have learning differences.
In May, we will be highlighting Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Jewish American Heritage Month. Reading books, highlighting role models at our assemblies, and creating learning boards iare just some of the ways we acknowledge heritage months.
We also have a special cultural assembly organized by our PTO. The dance company, Ajna, is performing, "Dances of India" on May 6 for all our students. Our students will be learning about Indian dance and culture. By embracing diversity, we can create an inclusive environment where everyone feels welcomed and valued.
Social Emotional Learning
During our April assemblies, we introduced our May common read, I Am Courage by Susan Verde and Peter H. Reynolds, this New York Times bestselling author-iillustrator team that produces the I Am series. This picture book celebrates everyday courage including trying new things, asking for help, and getting back up even after we fall. Problem-solving strategies and resilience are themes in May!
Students from each class continue to receive Eagle Eye Awards! Students who demonstrated Kind, Responsible, and Safe expectations were recognized and their group photos will be shared on our digital board! Thank you to Eddie the Eagle for celebrating our students with us.
Shout Outs!
Thank you to Mrs. Emig, Mrs. Burroughs, and Mrs. Griffin for leading our Green Teams!
Thank you to Mr. & Mrs. Almstead for celebrating Arbor Day with our school community!
Thank you to our PTO for supporting our new garden!
Thank you to our PTO for supporting our school programs, including supporting our enrichment experiences in the classrooms and outside our classrooms (field trips!)
Thank you to the PTO's Bulletin Board Teams for creating beautiful boards!
Thank you to our families for volunteering at school and supporting your children with learning at home!
Thank you to our students for demonstrating Kind, Responsible, and Safe behaviors and for working hard each day!
